After experiencing the "rule of Wenjing", the Han Dynasty, in the early days of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, whether economically or politically, can indeed be called a strong national strength. The Chronicle of History contains:
For more than seventy years in Hanxing, the country had nothing to do, except for the disaster of floods and droughts, the people gave their families enough, and they all despised the people, and the treasury was full of goods. The money of the Kyoshi is huge, and it is decaying and unschoolable. Taicang's millet Chen Chen Xiangyin, overflowing with dew, is so corrupt that it is inedible.
The drowning of commoners, the vanity of the Han Wudi era
However, under the circumstance that the national strength of the Han Dynasty was so strong, there were many incidents of civilians drowning their babies.
This has to start from the ambition of Emperor Wu of Han. Gaozu Liu Bang was almost killed by the Xiongnu in the "Siege of Baideng", but was able to escape due to the coordinated efforts of all parties, and this accident became a shame in the history of the Han Dynasty. After the talented Emperor Wu of Han ascended the throne, he swore a swear of shame and intended to exterminate the Xiongnu. As a result, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty reigned for more than fifty years, and for nearly forty years he was fighting against the Xiongnu, exhausting the country's people's wealth and people's livelihood.
To maintain a perennial conquest, it must be supported by a strong economy. The old money accumulated by the "rule of Wenjing" was quickly exhausted by Emperor Wu of Han, and the consumption brought by the war was hundreds of millions, such as: in two battles from 124 BC to 123 BC, the Han army lost a total of 100,000 soldiers and horses, and the imperial court took out more than 200,000 catties of gold to reward and care for the living soldiers.
1 kilogram of gold in the Han Dynasty is equivalent to 10,000 yuan, and 200,000 kilograms is equal to 2 billion yuan. The central government only needs 30 million yuan a year to the bureaucrats, but the reward for war is dozens of times that of the bureaucrats, which shows how much consumption is great. In 121 BC, the Book of Pinghuai records:
It is more than 100 million years of money. This year, the financial and military consumption of the Han Dynasty reached tens of billions.
This figure can be said to be the sum of the attrition of previous wars.
So, how did the Han Dynasty government sustain such a huge war expenditure?
Of course, it is the state finance, and many people know that there were many economic reform measures during the Han Wudi period, including salt and iron monopoly, monetary system, reckoning, equalization of losses, and even selling of officials and knights, etc. These reform measures played a vital role in increasing fiscal revenue and maintaining war expenditures.
However, for ordinary civilians, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty's reform measures did not increase their burden, and they did not drown their children because of these measures, so what exactly led to such a tragic event?
Speaking of which, it is still related to the state finance and taxation. The agricultural tax of the Han Dynasty was actually very low. Later, because of the tight military expenditure, it was slightly increased, and when Emperor Hui of Han arrived, it was restored to fifteen taxes and one; in the twelfth year of Emperor Wen of Han, Emperor Wen adopted the suggestion of "heavy peasants and noble millets" and exempted half of the rent, with a tax of thirty taxes and one year of comprehensive land rent for thirteen years; when Emperor Jing of Han changed the fifteen taxes to thirty taxes and one, until the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the field tax had not been thirty taxes and one. Therefore, the agricultural tax is not the "culprit" of the incident.
In addition to the land rent tax, the Han Dynasty also had a poll tax, called the calculation and mouth endowment, which was developed from the mouth endowment of the Qin Dynasty.
According to the regulations, both men and women must pay the calculation from the age of 15 to 26. Han Gaozu began to start in the fourth year, no one counted every year, there were 120 yuan, and when Emperor Wen of Han was reduced to 40 yuan. In order to encourage population growth, women who do not marry between the ages of 15 and 30 should be calculated according to the grade.
For the commoners, the rent is actually very light, but the family's calculation and oral endowments add up to a lot, and this burden is the biggest burden for the civilians. Due to the calculation of the common people and the weight of the mouth, the business of the society at that time of the Han Dynasty was generally sluggish, the consumption capacity was extremely low, the general commodities could not be bought, and only the upper nobility or the powerful controlled the commercial field. There was no way for the commoners to increase their income, but the "imperial grain state tax" could not be paid, and the only way to avoid paying these taxes was to sell themselves as slaves, and the master would pay the calculation or oral endowment, which is why there were still slaves in the Han Dynasty.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty raised the minimum age of the oral endowment by 4 years, which actually increased the tax burden of the commoners in disguise, which was very difficult for those commoners who were already difficult to pay the starting and mouth endowments. Some civilians were thus sold into slavery to avoid paying, and some civilian families had a large population and could not afford to pay, so they had to drown their children to avoid taxes.
Many people think that this is a very cruel act, people's hearts are long flesh, how can they get their hands on it? Of course, these civilians do not do it themselves, they do it through mutual exchange, that is, they exchange their own children with others, and then drown. It is really because of the desperate road that this behavior will occur. Therefore, the so-called strength and prosperity of the Han Dynasty is nothing more than a piece of vanity, and the phenomenon of "the country is rich and the people are poor" may be the essence of the society in the Han And Wu period.